Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in McGirk, we use the following websites to find information relevant to McGirk and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for McGirk
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for McGirk:
- 31.517380, -98.331513
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on McGirk
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Hamilton County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Hamilton County
- Since McGirk is near Mills County and also Lampasas County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Mills County
- eBird sighting report for Lampasas County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named McGirk ...
We found one communities that share the name McGirk.
Within Texas, the name McGirk is unique.
Beyond Texas, there is another community also named McGirk in the United States.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
Curious and Interesting Names Near McGirk ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Indian Gap
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Gap have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Gap
- Indian Gap is located in Hamilton County
- Ohio ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east) - Parsley Crossing
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parsley Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parsley Crossing
- Parsley Crossing is located in Hamilton County
- Pecan Wells
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pecan Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Wells
- Pecan Wells is located in Hamilton County
- Pleasant Grove
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Pleasant Grove is located in Mills County
- Pottsville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pottsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pottsville
- Pottsville is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pottsville <3>
- Slab Crossing ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Crossing
- Slab Crossing is located in Hamilton County
- Star
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
- Star is located in Mills County
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Star <3>
- Vista
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
How Far From McGirk to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as McGirk to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers and using the location of where the historic<4> community of McGirk once stood, the straight-line distance beginning in McGirk and extending to:
- Hamilton, which is the Seat of Hamilton County, lies 17 miles [27.4 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from McGirk to Hamilton, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take five to six hours.
- Austin, which is the State Capital of Texas, lies 93 miles [149.7 km] to the south southeast (SSE). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take most of three days and walking would take 6 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 1,300 miles [2,092.1 km] to the east northeast (ENE). Driving would take about three full days, a buggy would take 51 days and walking would take 74 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 7,108 miles [11,439.2 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,843 miles [12,622.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,722 miles [9,208.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- McGirk) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in McGirk. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.5174, Longitude: -98.3315 In this case, the coordinates for McGirk have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <3> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <4> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about McGirk, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from McGirk to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 320.799 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 317.34 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 315.472 degrees. |